We always knew that Day 1 would be a very tough day. What we hadn't factored in was the Cyclist's worst enemy - a strong headwind. After all, the prevailing winds are supposed to come from the south west- one of our reasons for doing the route south to north. But today the wind blew hard from the east. Climbing up onto Dartmoor from Tavistock in the evening it meant that even the short downhill bits were hard work.
After a comfortable night at Land's End Youth Hostel at St Just and a good value breakfast we drove down to Lands End . Sue acting as "Dave Braislford" helped sort out our kit and bikes before departing back to Weston to go to work. After the obligatory photos by the famous sign we were on our way at 08.45.
Phil having bought very little kit stopped at Penzance to buy flip flops and then again just outside Truro for a base layer and jacket. In fact Chris and I saw very little of Phil all day meeting up for coffee mid morning at Leedstown, Roche and then at Tavistock for chips and tea. Having only a small scale map, but wanting to forge ahead, he ended up going off the planned route and doing his own route mainly on A roads.
Our planned lunch tine stop didn't materialise because in the bleak china clay area between St Stephen and Roche there was nothing open. We ended up eating a sandwich in a Co-op in Roche sheltering from a heavy downpour and getting some annoying looks from the locals.
Moving eastwards the climbs got harder and more frequent. The climb out of Lanhydrock was particularly steep as was the climb out of Gunnislake. By Tavistock I was shattered but a reviving plate of chips and plenty of tea gave me the energy boost I needed to climb up onto Dartmoor and an evening meal at the Plume and Feathers in Princetown.
We reached our accommodation (the Cherrybrook) just outside Two Bridges just after 10pm. David Martin our host made us very welcome. They had a great drying room facility and we were able to put our bikes in his garage.
Showers and bed were the order of the day!
Showers and bed were the order of the day!
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